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Dominant in the extreme

Monday 24th January 2011

Often it is easier to write my thoughts when things are not going so well, maybe a sign that most of us are better with our backs against the wall.

Deep down we all want the same things, our team to play well, score goals and win games and when this doesn't happen we get down. We all deal wih that feeling in different ways of course but the one thing we don't like is hearing criticism from others. For me it is this fact alone that makes us all go on the defensive!

In a league with such obvious quality from top to bottom it is difficult to explain games like Saturday's. We really wouldn't be exaggerating if we said our scoreline could quite easily have reached double figures.

Our football, particularly in the first half, was simply sublime. Going in at the break with just the one goal lead, however, was frustrating and a little concerning. Not because of a fear that we would miss similar chances in another game, just that like at Leeds on Wednesday night our opponents were somehow still in it.

Until that second and arguably the third goal goes in it is natural I feel to worry that it is all going to go horribly wrong! It's simply an emotion that us football fans are resigned to having to go through!

Other than a couple of speculative headers that threatened so little they are not even worth a mention our dominance in the second period was no less extreme.

Our second was a thing of beauty. Cesc's pass was laced with pure class and RVP's finish powerful and clinical. No less than our performance deserved. Once our ever-sharper Dutchman blazed his penalty high over the bar it was all about whether he could complete his hat-trick before time ran out.

Another glorious Cesc pass, great hold up play from Theo and RVP thumped home that icing on the cake for both him personally and of course our latest three points. A very good job very well done.

Make no doubts about it tomorrow is a big game. A semi-final that sees us behind at half time with a Wembley appearance the big prize.

After the first leg it is impossible to predict quite how the game will pan out. All we know as fans is we can do everything we can to be that 12th man, knowing full well of course that the thousands travelling from Suffolk will be doing exactly the same.

Come on you mighty reds!

Frank

Copyright 2015 The Arsenal Football Club plc. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source24 Jan 2011

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